Rapunzel and her favorite piece of cookware
In case you were wondering, cast-iron “seasoning” is the chemical reaction whereby oil is polymerized on the iron’s surface. You basically just keep baking fat onto your pan until it binds and won’t come off. This sounds as if it would be pretty easy to keep clean, since the reason why it works is that you don’t want to get your pan all the way clean, but it is actual balance between non-food encrusted and ruined. This is probably a metaphor.
Loyal readers may remember that I am deeply grateful for such miracles of modern technology, such as vacuums and crockpots. But the cast iron skillet dates back to ancient China and cast-iron cookware has been valued across cultures for its durability and ability to withstand high temperatures. Plus, it sears meat pretty well.
I was recently at my parents’ house, because I am not yet a fully functional adult and pop over once every 3-4 months for free laundry and dinner and nice wine, and was discussing the merits of my cast iron skillet. And my parents don’t have one. They have not been devotees of the cult of the cast iron skillet for nearly a quarter of a century. S0, maybe I am actually an independent person with fully formed thoughts and opinions who is 100% capable of making her own life’s decision solely based on what a bunch of random people on the internet recommend. And cast iron skillets are awesome! You can totally cook a whole week’s worth of food in the thing, and they can go in the oven. I have a fancy turkey-chili recipe which is pretty much just like regular chili but you bake buttermilk biscuits right on top of the chili in the oven, which would only be possible with an oven-proof skillet. Plus they’re a hefty pieces of cookware, so I guess you could use them in a pinch for self-defense. (Exhibit A: Richard the Lionheart of England was slain by a crossbowmen who used a skillet as a shield)
But the thing about cast iron skillets is they require a not quite small degree of TLC: you have to clean them right after you use them. Now, most people clean their dishes fairly regularly, and I do too–but the cast iron skillet needs to be cleaned right after dinner. You can’t just throw it in the sink with some dish soap and the morning’s coffee mug because the Uber’s here and you got to go out drinking with your ne’er do well friends right this second. No, the cast iron skillet needs a little more love. You can’t use dish soap on it, because you don’t want to ruin the seasoning. And you want to scrub hard enough, but not too hard as to scrape off the seasoning. (Salt is helpful in a pinch). Lastly, you must avoid rust like the plague, because that will ruin your lovely plan. There’s a bunch of stuff on the interwebs about how to salvage your pan if you are so unfortunate as to let it rust, but in my opinion, if that should ever happen, it’s probably easier just to buy a new one. To avoid rust, you have to stick your scrubbed-but-not-too-scrubbed pan back on the stove, and let all the water evaporate off, and then rub it with a little vegetable oil.It’s like taking care of a baby, or maybe a finicky houseplant.
Like exercise of a foreign language, cast iron skillets get easier with use. All the delicious fat and grease that you cook with react with the iron in the pan, and eventually it will become more or less non-stick (without all that Teflon which will maybe give you cancer. But I’m maybe ok with that, since I would probably maybe trade a year or two of my life for the convenience of non-stick cookware). I’m not at that point yet, though some day I will be brave enough to actually cook eggs in the thing.
I definitely use my skillet more in the summer. I’m a big fan of one-pot meals (and Buzzfeed is to, by the looks of it) but you can just make more summer-y things in a skillet as opposed to a crockpot. I don’t have a grill, but you can sear steak or chicken in a skillet, and it tastes pretty good. You can stir-fry up a ton of vegetables and pretend that you’re healthy. It also doesn’t make your house as hot as if you turn your oven o (but you could if you wanted to! That is the beauty of this thing!)
Basically, what I’m trying to say is, that while some people I know have spouses and children and dogs to take care of (sometimes, gasp, all three) I consider it no small achievement that both my houseplant and skillet are still alive and functional. It’s those small victories that really matter.
In Case You Were Wondering. . . 
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